www.rsis.edu.sg No. 270 – 10 December 2015 RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical issues and contemporary developments. The views of the authors are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced electronically or in print with prior permission from RSIS and due recognition to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email:
[email protected] for feedback to the Editor RSIS Commentary, Yang Razali Kassim. UMNO’s New Page: After Najib vs Muhyiddin By Yang Razali Kassim Synopsis The ongoing UMNO general assembly is proving heated amid the twin scandals of 1MDB and party political donation. However it ends, a new page is being opened in the tumultuous history of UMNO. Commentary THE 2015 UMNO General Assembly this week turns a new page in the party’s tumultuous history. It was marked by a tussle between the top two leaders triggered by the twin scandals of 1MDB and political donation affecting the prime minister and UMNO president Najib Razak. Even as the assembly started today (10 Dec 2015) the delegates appeared to be rallying behind the embattled president, while his loyal deputy turned critic, former Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, was further sidelined. Najib’s plan to sack him appeared to have been delayed if not pushed back with Muhyiddin retaining his post for now. Denied his traditional platform to speak as party deputy president, Muhyiddin created an alternative gathering of supporters on 7 December with what amounted to his own “pre-assembly curtain raiser.” Complete with the UMNO flag and anthem and telecast live online, Muhyiddin made a forceful address “to save UMNO” at a rally at the Sultan Sulaiman Club, UMNO’s birthplace in 1946, accompanied by former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamed.